The California Water Environment Association (CWEA) has named Shaw Industries Group Inc.’s Santa Fe Springs, Calif., plant its “Facility of the Year.” The award recognizes Shaw’s innovative wastewater and stormwater management, air quality and waste management conservation efforts. Shaw accepted the honor on Feb. 28 at the CWEA’s 38th annual P3S Training Conference & Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.

“Shaw’s Santa Fe Springs facility stands out in California for its commitment to environmentally conscious practices across all aspects of its operations,” said Paul D. Schmidtbauer, CWEA P3S Awards Committee Chair – South. “From recycling and saving millions of gallons of water to its ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ status, the facility is a model of best environmental practices for our state.”

The facility diverts residual waste from landfills by sending it to a waste-to-energy facility in the City of Commerce for energy recovery. Its other environmentally conscious practices include recycling 100 percent of carpet production waste (including carpet, lint, floor sweepings and yarn) into pre-consumer recycled content and minimizing air emissions through the use of low NOx burners on two ship-scale boilers.

“As a local manufacturer, it was important to Shaw to implement environmentally responsible practices, especially those that drastically conserve water at the facility, being that the Colorado River – which provides water for our county – has remained in a drought for the past 11 years,” noted Bill Woyshner, Shaw’s Tuftex Divisional Environmental/Safety Manager.

“The California Water Environment Association award speaks to the focus, dedication and commitment of Shaw’s Santa Fe Springs team to be a leader in sustainability initiatives,” added Scott Price, Santa Fe Springs plant manager. “Just to be nominated out of the more than 1,500 facilities that dispatch water in the Southern California area was a great acknowledgement for Shaw; but to actually win the award was a huge honor.”

This CWEA award is the most recent recognition of Shaw’s Santa Fe Springs facility, which has won CalRecycle’s WRAP award (Waste Reduction Award Program) for six consecutive years and the Central Basin Municipal Water District’s Visionary Stewardship Award.